


Relaxation Techniques

by Star55



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Girl Band, Girl Direction, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-17 14:52:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18967471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star55/pseuds/Star55
Summary: Liam likes to box to relax when her life as a budding pop-star gets to be too much.





	Relaxation Techniques

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by [this revelation](https://a-compass-for-his-ship.tumblr.com/post/184298393522)
> 
> just fyi: the girls are in the band in this fic, but it's before they make it _big_.
> 
> as per usual - thanks to emma for the beta and brit-pick. ily ♥

There’s something about getting up early before anyone even _thinks_ of waking up that Liam likes. She likes being able to do whatever she wants without anyone else poking in and asking a hundred questions as to _why_ she’s up so early. 

Liam has always been an early bird – she likes her sleep, don’t get her wrong, but she also likes getting up. There’s something about being awake before the chaos of the day starts that is peaceful to her. It’s where she feels the most centred – the most calm. And those things are really important to her right now.

She never expected that her life would change so quickly so fast. She never expected it at all. She never expected to have four new best friends, and band members, that she was suddenly around every moment of every day. She needs this time to herself. Just as much as the others need to sleep in (or just sleep, really), she needs to be alone.

It’s odd for Liam – to suddenly be surrounded by so many people. To _actually_ have friends. She’s still unsure if Louis is her friend, though. She’s a bit odd with Liam. She’s loud, abrasive and rubs Liam up the wrong way. They clash spectacularly. Liam is far more serious than Louis is, and Louis just wants to have a good time _all_ the time. But she _thinks_ that they’re friends. They kind of have to be, don’t they? They’re in this band now – for however long they last. 

She really hopes they last.

But having people around her constantly is different. She’s used to her family, her mum, dad, and sisters, and that’s about it. She didn’t really have friends in school. No one liked hanging out with someone who was so serious all of the time. But Liam can’t help that – that’s who she is. She’s a serious person by nature. And now there are four other girls in this band that rely and depend on her – she’s not going to mess that up for them by being something other than who she is.

Though her serious side has come with a lot of stress. 

Putting five girls between the ages of sixteen to eighteen in a band together is just asking for trouble. They’re all hormonal, all stupid, all like a laugh, and they all want this band to succeed _so badly_. 

And Liam feels the pressure. She wants this so badly. She wants their band to be successful. She wants to _sing_ for a living – to perform their songs for crowds of hundreds, maybe even _thousands_ of people. Whenever she thinks that, she has to hold onto something to ground herself. She gets shivers, and then immediately feels queasy, when she thinks of playing for _thousands_ of people.

Her mind automatically goes to the O2 arena – it’s her greatest ambition to perform there. Performing to a sold out crowd would be even better.

The X Factor was tough. She was absolutely devastated when they lost. The other girls were, too. Their heartbroken expressions are forever imprinted in her mind. But then they were swept into Simon’s office and were all signing contracts before their tears had even finished drying on their cheeks.

Doing the X Factor tour had been fun. She’d had her first taste of performing in front of crowds so big that she couldn’t see any individual faces. The thrill that came with performing for that many people was absolutely intoxicating. She wants to chase that high forever.

There’s talk of them being that big. That One Direction are going to be even _bigger_ than the Spice Girls. Though it seems like a tough feat at this point – they haven’t even released their first album yet. Soon, though. She hopes soon, at least. Especially since their first single was such a hit. She never wants to forget that high she felt when their single went straight to number one. 

A while back, Paul noticed that she wasn’t handling the stress of being on the road like the others as they travelled all over England to promote their new single. She’d caught Zayn and Louis getting high in the back of the bus, and had promptly turned her nose up at it. 

It wasn’t that she _disapproved_ as such (she did, but she wasn’t going to tell _them_ that – they intimidated her), but it was that she wasn’t ever _invited_ to do that with them. She wanted to try and get high at least once in her life. She wouldn’t know _how_ to, of course, but she still wants to try.

Niall and Harry handled stress differently. Nothing really seemed to bother Niall – she was far too laid back and chill to let things worry her. And Harry was constantly surrounded by candles, doing weird yoga poses that had even weirder names, and meditating in the oddest of spots on the bus. 

So Paul had pulled her aside. Her worry was apparent enough that Paul had noticed – that he had taken the time to think of something that Liam could do to relieve the stress.

And it worked.

Paul had taught her how to box. 

It was weird at first. Her body wasn’t used to moving that way, and her muscles screamed and protested at the fact that they were straining so much. But after a while, it became the best thing for Liam to do to relax. She loves it. She loves the way her body can move. She didn’t know that it could _do_ such awesome things. And she’s landed a few good punches against Paul, too, which really put a pep in her step.

There are a pair of worn boxing gloves that she keeps tucked into the bottom of her suitcase, the one that she didn’t know what to put into it when she left home less than a year ago. The one her mum insisted on her taking, despite the fact that it was the good suitcase that she would use whenever they would go away.

She misses her mum like crazy these days. 

Boxing helps with that, too. It focuses her mind solely on the task at hand. If she doesn’t want to get her head boxed in, she has to put all of her concentration into boxing and boxing alone.

Liam secures the gloves around her wrists and taps the boxing bag in front of her. The places they’ve been staying at have all had gyms, which is nice. She likes being able to do cardio, and weights, and, of course, boxing. It keeps her mind sharp and her body happy.

Paul had texted her before she got to the gym saying he wasn’t coming down this morning. But that’s okay, Liam doesn’t mind being alone. She can put her music on and just hit the punch bag until it swings hard enough to hit her back. 

Today is one of those days – punching the punch bag hard enough until it hits her back. She’d had weird dreams. Weirder than usual. Sexual kind of weird. 

She wasn’t used to that. 

Sure she’s had sexual dreams in the past, she figures that most teenagers her age have at some point, but what was odd about it is that it featured one of her bandmates. _That_ was enough to have her skin prickling awkwardly and have her making her way quickly down to the gym to get her mind to focus on something other than the pair of phantom lips on her neck.

Being in this band has opened Liam’s mind a lot. She never thought that she was closed minded before, not when her uncles are gay and together, and not when her favourite cousin came out as lesbian last year just before Liam went on The X Factor. But it’s different when living in close quarters with other girls, and with Louis who thinks it’s fully okay to snog any of them whenever she feels like it.

The punch bag swings back harder this time.

Sweat prickles Liam’s skin. She can feel it forming on the back of her neck and across her shoulders. The room is cool enough that she doesn’t feel like she’s overheating, thankfully.

She needs this distraction. She needs to feel the steady beat of her fists hitting the punch bag in front of her. She needs to feel the strain of her leg muscles as she bounces on the balls of her feet, practically dancing in front of the bag, never staying still long enough for thoughts to fully form.

Because if they do, if they form fully in her mind – she’ll realise that she liked it.

That she liked the dream. She liked _who_ was in the dream with her. And she liked the fact that the kisses they were sharing in the dream were _definitely_ going to lead to something _more_. And Liam has barely kissed anyone (that isn’t Louis because Louis is a bit of a flirt when she’s drunk, and quite handsy, too), but she finds herself _wanting_ to kiss… 

She hits the punch bag harder.

It swings back and Liam kicks it. She’s been getting better at that, too, kicking the punch bag. It left bruises all over her shins the first time she did it, but it feels good now. It feels powerful. It’s something that Liam can control. And she needs that.

With her muscles burning, her chest heaving, and sweat sticking to her skin, Liam decides that it’s enough for today. She closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths, letting her lungs fill with oxygen and holding it for a moment. She exhales slowly as she turns around, taking her gloves off so she can grab her water bottle to take a drink from.

Which is when she spots Harry, sitting on a weights bench, resting her chin on her folded up knees, just _watching_ Liam.

Liam’s heart thuds in her chest at being startled. 

“What are you doing here?” she asks, putting her bottle back down and picking up her towel to wipe away the water she spilled all over herself. 

“Couldn’t sleep,” Harry replies. “I could hear Louis and Zayn having sex. They’re very loud.”

Liam snorts. “Louis is a very loud person.”

“I think Niall was in there, too,” Harry adds. Liam stills. She isn’t sure what she thinks about that. Mostly she thinks that having sex with a bandmate could potentially end in disaster for the band if anything went bad.

Which is why her dream is going to _stay_ that – just a dream. She doesn’t need to be snogging or shagging her fellow band members and potentially ruining their careers before they’ve even started.

Liam licks her lips. She still hasn’t responded to Harry’s comment about the threesome currently going on upstairs.

“Could you teach me?” Harry asks, her voice startling Liam all over again.

“Teach you to have sex?” Liam asks, her eyes wide. Surely Harry knows that she’s never had sex before? Louis has offered, of course. She’s ninety-nine percent sure that she’s the _only_ band member that Louis hasn’t had sex with at this rate.

“No, silly,” Harry says, giggling. “Teach me to box?”

“Oh!” 

Of _course_ Harry meant boxing. The punch bag is still swinging a little from where Liam last hit it.

“Um, yeah, sure,” Liam says eventually. She nods. “Um. When?”

“Now?” 

Harry gets up, unfolding her long legs. She’s still wearing her pyjamas, the ones with shorts – the ones that make her legs look ridiculously long. Liam should be grateful that Harry is even wearing clothes at this time on a morning. She knows how Harry likes to be as naked as possible whenever she can. 

Liam averts her gaze. She has another sip from her bottle before passing Harry her gloves. She gets them securely around Harry’s hands and shows her how to stand properly. 

It’s easy to forget about bandmates having sex, and the fact that Harry looks ridiculously cute in her pyjamas. She even manages to forget that it was Harry who was kissing her and touching her in her dream. It’s easy to forget that when she’s focused on showing Harry how to hit the punch bag properly.

Harry is a natural. She packs more of a punch than Liam expected her to – especially since she’s always saying that violence is never the answer, and that everyone can choose to be kind. The juxtaposition isn’t lost on Liam.

“I think I need to stop. My shoulder’s sore,” Harry says a long while later. She rotates her shoulder and winces. 

“Here, I can help with that,” Liam replies. She gets Harry sitting down again and works on the muscle how Paul had done for her the first time she had boxed. 

A moan escapes from Harry and Liam catches their reflections in the mirrors lining the wall. Harry’s eyes are closed, her mouth open a little. Her expression is completely relaxed and it makes Liam flushes heavily. She quickly moves her hands off Harry’s body and busies herself picking up her things.

“Um, that was good,” she says, still not looking at Harry. “You’re a natural.”

“Yeah?” Harry asks. Her expression, when Liam turns back to face her, is hopeful. It’s _happy_.

Liam nods. “Yeah,” she says. She accepts the gloves from Harry. “Boxing is a great way to relax,” she continues. “I come down most mornings to box. You’re more than welcome to join me.”

Harry smiles at her. Liam’s stomach flutters. “I think I’d like that.” She steps closer, pushing Liam’s ponytail back over her shoulder. “But I also think that Louis’ way of relaxing is good too,” she says softly. Purposefully. Her eyes shine brightly and before Liam knows it, Harry is pressing their lips together in the softest kiss she’s ever experienced. 

“W-what?” Liam mumbles when they part.

“Let’s just say that the walls are thin,” Harry whispers, her lips still impossibly close to Liam’s own. “And you talk in your sleep.”

Liam goes bright red. Harry giggles, but kisses her again anyway. 

Louis’ way may also be relaxing, but Liam isn’t going to give up boxing. Not when Harry starts to join her and they end each session with kisses like this.

**Author's Note:**

> hi again. if you've got this far, i hope you enjoyed this part ♥  
> please leave me a comment if you liked it. i love comments so very much a lot ♥
> 
>  
> 
> rebloggable post on my [tumblr](https://star55.tumblr.com/post/185143304026)


End file.
